A nested group of companies is on the brink. The founder provokes with a luxurious trip.
René Benko has now incurred the wrath of not only his investors and creditors, but also that of the remaining Signa employees.
Exclusive shopping excursion
The financial juggler went on an exclusive shopping trip to Barcelona this weekend, right after the first bankruptcy of one of his real estate companies (Signa Real Estate Management Germany).
They traveled – as befits their status – in the oversized private jet Global 7000 that smelled of cigars (new price: about 70 million euros) and returned to Innsbruck on Sunday afternoon. A city trip, which the German mass newspaper ‘Bild’ supported with exclusive photos, led to the following double-page headline: ‘Here comes the Karstadt billionaire from a day of shopping while his company is in danger of going bankrupt.’
Will the curators arrive soon?
Insiders expect that the further fate of the financially distressed group can be decided as early as Tuesday. If a bankruptcy domino were to occur, court-appointed trustees would take over the helm of more than 1,000 companies.
Due to the interconnections between the Signa companies, insolvency experts suspect that this scenario would require a significant number of administrators. Then the moment of truth arrives for Benko and his co-investors. The mutual obligations and guarantees are then clarified and the remaining assets are revalued.
But who are they actually? the main partners of the Tyrolean real estate speculator at Signa Holding?
- Hans Peter Haselsteiner: Through his family foundation (chairman: Alfred Gusenbauer), he owns 15 percent of the holding company, whose net assets were recently valued at around four billion, according to information from “Krone”. This number will therefore have to be critically examined and reassessed by the curators.
- Torsten Toeller: The founder of Fressnapf owns 4.5 percent of the shares and recently wanted to get out.
- Ernst Tanner: The president of chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli not only has a lot of private money to lose, but also his serious reputation.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
